The present invention relates to apparatus for testing and filling a cooling system of a motor vehicle with coolant.
Periodically, it is necessary to replace the coolant in the cooling system for a motor vehicle engine. For this purpose, a stopcock has been provided at the bottom of the radiator. In order to drain the system, the stopcock is opened and a cap at the top of the radiator is removed to allow air to enter the system braking a vacuum which would otherwise prevent the flow of old spent coolant through the stopcock.
Years ago a service technician draining the radiator simply allowed the spent coolant to flow to a floor drain in the garage from which it entered the municipal sewer system. With increased concerns about harming the environment, such dumping of coolant chemicals, which often contain heavy metals, into a sewer system has been prohibited. Now the service technician must place a pan beneath the stopcock in which to catch the coolant draining from the engine. The technician must then pour the coolant into a suitable container for proper disposal according to environmental protection regulations. The recovered coolant alternatively may be delivered to a recycling center which removes the contaminants and sells the cleansed coolant.
After the spent coolant is removed from the motor vehicle, the cooling system has to be filled with new coolant. This is accomplished by closing the stopcock and pouring the new coolant into the filler neck at the top of the engine that was opened by removal of the radiator cap. When the mechanic is working on the cooling system, often the drained coolant is placed back into the system, if the coolant is relatively fresh and uncontaminated.
Simply pouring the coolant into the filler opening is relatively time consuming and prone to coolant being spilled onto the floor of the garage. In addition, this process may not completely fill the cooling system with new coolant, as air which entered during the draining stage becomes trapped with in cavities in upper sections of the engine during refilling. Therefore, the engine often has to be operated for a period of time to flush the air into the upper part of the radiator from which the air can be replaced later with more coolant added to the system.